Agawam resident competes in Poetry Out Loud state finals

March 20, 2019 | Stephanie Trombley
stephanie@thereminder.com

Diana Kulmizev, a senior at Agawam High School, performed three poems for the Fourteenth Annual Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest State Finals.
Photo credit courtesy of Huntington Theatre Company/Photos by David Marshall

AGAWAM – On March 10, 25 students from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including Diana Kulmizev of Agawam High School and Esther Yen of Longmeadow High School competed in the Fourteenth Annual Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest State Finals at the Old South Meeting House in Boston.

Poetry Out Loud is a national contest by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The program seeks to show the power of spoken word as well as giving students public speaking exposure. Students are asked to choose three poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology to memorize and perform in front of students in their schools. Students are chosen to advance to various levels in the competition.

Over 21,000 students across 82 schools participated in this year’s Poetry Out Loud contest. 72 winners of school-level competitions advanced to one of five semi-final contests located in the Massachusetts cities of Boston, Cape Cod, Framingham, Newburyport and Springfield. Kulmizev and Yen were among the top scoring contestants at their respective semi-final contests.

Rose Hansen, a student of Norwell High School in Norwell was named as the Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud State Champion during the state finals. Hansen will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC in April to compete in the national finals competition.

The Huntington Theatre Company’s Education Department has facilitated the Massachusetts chapter of the Poetry Out Loud contest alongside the Mass Cultural Council since the inception of the competition.

Meg O’Brien, Interim Co-Director of Education and Access Coordinator for the Huntington Theatre Company, shared what she enjoys about being involved in the Poetry Out Loud competition. “One of the things I love the most about the program is the diversity of the poets. They all have to choose their poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology and I am impressed each year in the diversity of the poems chosen,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien continued, “One of the missions of Poetry Out Loud is to expose students to a range of poetry. This is something I wish I had while I was in high school. It’s great to see how different each of the three poems they choose are.”

O’Brien said that she thinks Poetry Out Loud benefits students in the future. “Any time you can get a student on stage performing, it is giving them experience they can take with them,” O’Brien said.

The commitment of teachers to the Poetry Out Loud competition has a positive effect on the competition, according to O’Brien. “I think we have a pretty fantastic group of teachers who are committed to bringing this each year. Without them, there isn’t a program. Getting to know students and teachers is one of my favorite parts of this,” O’Brien said.

Kulmizev performed “Monet Refuses the Operation” by Lisel Mueller, “Lions” by Sandra McPherson and “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley.

Kulmizev said competing in the Poetry Out Loud state finals was fun.

“It was super fun. I have done the school competition every year, so it was a lot of fun to move on for the first time. It was a really great experience and I was happy to attend,” Kulmizev said.

Kulmizev is a senior at Agawam High School and will be graduating in the spring, but she said she’d enjoy involving poetry in her future.

“If I get the chance to do any kind of spoken word, I’d definitely like to pursue it in the future,” Kulmizev said.

Yen performed “Filling Station” by Elizabeth Bishop, “The True-Blue American” by Delmore Schwartz and “Where did the handsome beloved go?”by Jalal Al-Din Rumi.

Yen shared that she enjoyed being a part of the Poetry Out Loud state finals. “I thought it was an enjoyable experience because it was my second time being there. It’s a supportive community and healthy competition. I’m a senior, but I would love to do more with poetry in the future,” Yen said.

While Yen may be a senior at Longmeadow High School, she told Reminder Publishing that she had advice for students hoping to compete in the future.

“I would say to definitely choose poems that you can express yourself through. I had to really embody the poems and it gave them that special ingredient,” Yen said.

O’Brien said that the Poetry Out Loud state finals always feel like a celebration.

“I always love to say how brilliant the students are at every level. It’s meant to be a celebration. I just love the state finals because we are celebrating what they have already accomplished. Massachusetts has a history in spoken word and it feels great to celebrate the history of spoken word,” O’Brien said.

The Poetry Out Loud National Finals will take place April 30 through May 1 at the Lisner Auditorium at The George Washington University.

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